BC-APFN-US--Business Features Digest, APFN

Friday

Aug 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2013 at 7:45 PM

The business news enterprise package planned through Sept. 1. For comments or questions, call 212-621-1680. For questions about photos, call ext. 1900. For questions about graphics, call ext. 7636. Repeats of stories are available from http://apexchange.com or the Service Desk, 1-800-838-4616.

The business news enterprise package planned through Sept. 1. For comments or questions, call 212-621-1680. For questions about photos, call ext. 1900. For questions about graphics, call ext. 7636. Repeats of stories are available from http://apexchange.com or the Service Desk, 1-800-838-4616.

WASHINGTON  Bottles of Tylenol sold in the U.S. will soon bear red warnings alerting users to potentially fatal risks of taking too much of the popular pain reliever. The unusual step, disclosed by the company that makes Tylenol, comes amid a growing number of lawsuits and pressure from the federal government that could have widespread ramifications for a medicine taken by millions of people every day. By Matthew Perrone.

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AP photo, video.

WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD

NEW YORK  Imagine gathering nearly everything that has rattled investors' nerves over the past four years: the European debt crisis, battles over the U.S. government's budget and moves by the Federal Reserve. Now imagine all of them crammed into one month. That month? It's September. As August draws to a close, trading desks and investment firms are anxiously looking toward the lineup of events in September and warning clients of turbulence ahead. By Matthew Craft.

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DRIVING IN AMERICA

WASHINGTON  Driving in America has stalled, leading researchers to ask: Is the national love affair with the automobile over? After rising for decades, total vehicle use in the U.S.  the collective miles people drive  peaked in August 2007. It then dropped sharply during the Great Recession and has largely plateaued since, even though the economy is recovering and the population growing. By Joan Lowy.

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AP photo.

HEALTH OVERHAUL-CONTAINING COSTS

SALEM, Ore.  Oregon health officials are concentrating on coordinating services and preventing hospital stays. New Jersey medical centers are rewarding doctors who can save money without jeopardizing patient care. As states work on implementing the complex federal health care reforms, some have begun tackling an issue that has vexed employers, individuals and governments for years  the rapidly rising costs of health care. By Jonathan J. Cooper.

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AP photos.

 HEALTH OVERHAUL-CONTAINING COSTS-GLANCE

OBAMA-FED CHIEF

WASHINGTON  Lawrence Summers is the White House insider with a direct line to President Barack Obama. Janet Yellen is the Federal Reserve veteran with a long list of congressional patrons. The two Ivy League-trained economists have emerged as leading contenders to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Fed, the nation's central bank. Obama could announce his nominee in the coming weeks. By Jim Kuhnhenn.

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AP photo.

TOOTH FAIRY INFLATION

NEW YORK  Days of finding a quarter under your pillow are long gone. The Tooth Fairy no longer leaves loose change. Kids this year are getting an average of $3.70 per lost tooth, a 23 percent jump over last year's rate of $3 a tooth, according to a survey by payment processor Visa Inc. released Friday. An improving economy means parents are giving more. By Joe Pisani.

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AP graphic planned.

BACK TO SCHOOL-LUNCH DROPOUTS

BUFFALO, N.Y.  After just one year, some schools around the nation are dropping out of the healthier new federal lunch program, complaining that so many students refused the meals packed with whole grains, fruits and vegetables that their cafeterias were losing money. Federal officials say they don't have exact numbers but acknowledged they've seen isolated reports of schools cutting ties with the $11 billion National School Lunch Program that reimburses schools for meals served and gives them access to lower-priced food. By Carolyn Thompson.

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AP photos.

SECRET RECIPES

ATLANTA  The 127-year-old recipe for Coke sits inside an imposing steel vault that's bathed in red security lights, while security cameras monitor the area to make sure the fizzy formula stays a secret. Companies play up the notion that their recipes are unchanging documents that need to be closely guarded. Turns out, though, some of those recipes have been tweaked more than a few times since they were created. But how many times is difficult to prove because companies are tight-lipped about revealing the secret ingredients in the first place. By Candice Choi.

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AP photos.

TRAVEL-LONELY PLANET FOUNDER-BOOK

NEW YORK  Tony Wheeler wrote his first travel book with his wife, Maureen, in 1973 after driving across Europe and Asia. It sold 1,500 copies in a week and launched a guidebook empire called Lonely Planet. The Wheelers made a fortune when the BBC bought the company in 2007 before the recession, but the BBC sold the company earlier this year at a huge loss. Meanwhile Wheeler, 66, is still doing what he built the brand on: traveling the world and writing about it. By Travel Editor Beth J. Harpaz.

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AP Photos.

TV-FALL PREVIEW

NEW YORK  There's something antiquated about the custom long known as the Fall TV Season. It was born of a bygone era when fall signaled the much-anticipated return to school, the resumption of football and the grand unveiling of next year's car models. It was an era of the Big Three  ABC, CBS and NBC  which each autumn launched their new shows with the stated intention of airing these dramas and comedies through much of the season to come. A half-century later, the Fall Season persists. By Television Writer Frazier Moore.

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AP Photos.

NICARAGUA-CANAL

When President Daniel Ortega granted an obscure Chinese telecoms executive exclusive rights to develop a $40 billion canal through Nicaragua and operate it for 100 years, his administration touted the CEO's long record of success heading a wireless communications firm with projects in 20 countries. But an examination of those claims by The Associated Press in Nicaragua and around the world paints a different picture of Wang Jing's company, Xinwei. While at least some of Xinwei's domestic enterprises appear to be successful, outside of China, Xinwei's promises to build revolutionary new telecom networks on its own have yet to materialize. And its deals with local partners have been marred by false starts and poor performance. 1,500 words. By Michael Weissenstein.

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AP Photos.

ASIA-SHAKY MARKETS-Q&A

HONG KONG  From India to Indonesia, the currencies and stock markets of emerging economies have been roiled by speculation about when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start scaling back monetary stimulus. Asian economies that had been star performers are now in the dumps and the ebbing investment tide has sparked fears the region will suffer a rerun of its 1997-98 financial crisis. Why are investors fleeing Asia? By Kelvin Chan.

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AP photos.

JAPAN-SWITCHING-TO-VENTURES

TOKYO  In a shabby back-alley office in Shibuya, a Tokyo district known for youth culture and tech ventures, defectors from corporate Japan are hard at work for a little known company they fervently believe will be the country's next big manufacturing success. Like a startup anywhere in the world, its bare bone setup crackles with an optimistic energy and urgent sense of purpose. What's different, for Japan, is that this startup's talent is drawn from the ranks of famous companies such as Mitsubishi, Michelin and Nissan. By Yuri Kageyama.

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AP photo.

COLUMNS:

OF MUTUAL INTEREST-UNDERPERFORMING STOCKS, Q&A

Buying stocks that are lagging the market may seem like a questionable strategy, but investors willing to hold on for a couple of years can profit, says Ron Sloan a mutual fund manager at Invesco. He is the lead manager of the firm's Charter fund (CHTRX), which invests in large multinational companies and is designed to give investors a more consistent, less volatile ride than the overall market. By Steve Rothwell.

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SMALLBIZ-SMALL TALK

NEW YORK  This is a good time for small business owners to re-evaluate how they run their companies. The economy is slowly regaining its stride, and owners are feeling more confident. In a survey by the National Small Business Association, 45 percent of owners said there will be growth opportunities in the coming year, up from 38 percent six months ago. Small business owners and professors who teach entrepreneurship have advice for companies: Start planning for your business in 2014 and beyond. By Joyce M. Rosenberg.

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AP photo.

ON THE MONEY-HEALTH CARE SHOPPING

Your employer and President Obama are imploring you to become a better health care consumer, because it's a key to slowing the seemingly perpetual rise of health care expenses. Obama's health care overhaul promises to provide insurance coverage to millions of Americans. But the uninsured first have to figure out which plan suits them best. Becoming a better health care consumer can put more money in your pocket and keep big medical bills at bay. Here are four key principles you should keep in mind. By Tom Murphy.

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DIGITAL LIFE-GOOGLE GLASS-EARLY USERS

SAN FRANCISCO Geeks aren't the only people wearing Google Glass. Among the people testing Google Inc.'s wearable computer are teachers, dentists, radio DJs, hair stylists, architects, athletes and even a zookeeper. Glass is designed to work like a smartphone that's worn like a pair of glasses, and although it looks like a prop from a science fiction movie, the device is capturing imaginations beyond the realm of nerds. As part of a contest, Google selected 8,000 U.S. residents who paid $1,500 apiece to buy an early version of Glass known as "Explorer." To get a sense of the advantages and drawbacks of the device, The Associated Press spoke to three Glass owners who have been using the device since late spring. By Mike Liedtke.